100 Years: John Lee is first Archbishop of Sabah

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

John Lee is first Archbishop of Sabah

2nd September, 2008

KOTA KINABALU: More than 5,000 Catholic faithful from throughout Sabah and religious clergy from the region gathered at the Sacred Heart Cathedral here to celebrate the appointment of Most Reverend Datuk John Lee as the first Archbishop of Sabah(correctly called archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu).

The celebratory mass of thanksgiving was also for the elevation of the Diocese of Kota Kinabalu to the status of Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu.

More than 65 Bishops and Priests, led by the Apostolic Delegate, Cardinal Salvatore Pennacchio concelebrated the mass, which was conducted in English, Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese.

Upon the ending of the mass, Archbishop Lee received a special chalice from Cardinal Salvatore as a gift from His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.

A luncheon was served after the mass. Last night, a dinner was also held in conjunction with the occasion and attended by more than 1,500 people.

The Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu also includes the dioceses of Keningau and Sandakan.

Profile

His Grace, Archbishop Datuk John Lee.

A third son of Mr and Mrs Thomas Lee Yu Moi, Most Reverend John lee was born in Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu) on Oct 5, 1933. He began his Chinese education at the age of five (1938) at Kung Ming School, Jesselton (now known as Shan Tao School).

1949 –1954 :English education at Sacred Heart School, Jesselton (La Salle School);

1955:Medical Department :Posted to Jesselton Town Board as Trainee Health Inspector but resigned after a few months of service.

1956 : Attended Minor Seminary at St Francis Xavier’s, Singapore

1959 : Attended Major Seminary at College General, Pulau Tikus, Penang.

1964 (May) : Made Sub Deacon and Deacon

1964 (Dec) : Ordained Priest by the late Bishop James Buis

1964 – 67 : Asst Rector/Maths Teacher – St Anthony’s, Tenom

1967 – 70 : Asst Rector /Principal – Blessed Sacrament, Labuan

1970 (Aug – Nov): Asst Rector – Stella Maris Church, Tanjung Aru

1971 : Rector – Holy Trinity Church, Tawau

1978 : Rector – St Mary’s Church, Sandakan

1980 – 83 : Studies in Rome. Obtained Licentiate in Canon Law

1983 (Sept) : Appointed Vicar General/Rector, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Kota Kinabalu

1985 (Nov) : Appointed Diocesan Administrator

1987 (Apr) : Appointed second local Bishop by Pope John Paul II

1987 (June) : Ordained Bishop

1992 (Sept) : Received the Panglima Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu State Award which carries the honorific title ‘Datuk’.

2008 (May) : Appointed first Archbishop in Sabah by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

2008 (June) : Receives Pallium from His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.

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St. Aloysius Gonzaga

SAINT ALOYSIUS GONZAGAJesuit Seminarian(1568-1591) Saint Aloysius, the eldest son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, Marquis of Castiglione, was born on the 9th of March, 1568. The first words he pronounced were the holy names of Jesus and Mary. When he was nine years of age he made a vow of perpetual virginity, and by a special grace was always exempted from temptations against purity. He received his first Communion at the hands of Saint Charles Borromeo. At an early age he resolved to leave the world, and in a vision was directed by our Blessed Lady to join the Society of Jesus. The Saint’s mother rejoiced on learning his determination to become a religious, but his father for three years refused his consent. At length Saint Aloysius obtained permission to enter the novitiate on November 25, 1585. He pronounced his vows after two years, and studied, as was customary, philosophy and theology. A fervent penitent at all times, he was accustomed to say that he doubted whether without penance grace could continue to make headway against nature, which, when not afflicted and chastised, tends gradually to relapse into its unredeemed state, and thereby loses the habit of suffering. “I am a crooked piece of iron,” he said, “and have come into religion to be made straight by the hammer of mortification and penance.” During his last year of theology a malignant fever broke out in Rome. The Saint offered himself for the service of the sick, and was accepted for the dangerous duty. Several of the religious contracted the fever, and Aloysius was among them. He was at the point of death but recovered, only to relapse a little later into a slow fever, which after three months his fragile health could no longer resist. He died at the age of twenty-three, repeating the Holy Name, a little after midnight between the 20th and 21st of June, on the octave day of Corpus Christi.

The Fifteen Promises of Mary to Christians Who Recite the Rosary

1.Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the rosary, shall receive signal graces.

2.I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the rosary.

3.The rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.

4.It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the heart of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.

5.The soul which recommend itself to me by the recitation of the rosary, shall not perish.

6.Whoever shall recite the rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.

7.Whoever shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.

8.Those who are faithful to recite the rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.

9.I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the rosary.

10.The faithful children of the rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.

11.You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the rosary.

12.All those who propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.

13.I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.

14.All who recite the rosary are my son, and brothers of my only son Jesus Christ.

15.Devotion of my rosary is a great sign of predestination.

(Given to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan) Imprimatur: Patrick J. Hayes DD Archbishop of New York)